Congratulations, Kate!

Kate DiCamillo has won the 2006 Chicago Tribune Prize for Young Adult Fiction. There's a press release here. I *love* Desperaux.

(There's an article in the Chicago Tribune, too, but it focuses on Joyce Cariol Oates, winner of this year's Chicago Tribune Literary Prize.)

I do love Body Shop, *but*...

They apparently have a new line of makeup, so the website asks, What's your fabulous new look? Time to revamp. Find a collection of gorgeous day and night looks: For a Hot Date, For 9 to 5, and For a Party. Experiment, be bold, and best of all, feel fabulous. Then they give suggestions for how to achieve each of these looks.

Problem is, I think all their suggestions look hideous. Like a little girl playing in her mother's make-up. Or Baby Jane.

Ugh.

Or maybe it's just me...

Worth checking out...

Seems my neighborhood has yet another new library! From the Reader: Last year Logan Square got a new neighborhood library. Last month it unexpectedly got another one, on the sidewalk around the corner from Lula Cafe. It’s small, unfunded, and self-maintaining--in fact, it doesn’t have any employees at all. It’s easy to miss it altogether, but if you look again at what appears to be an old newspaper honor box, you’ll see the words on its side, painted in bright green over white puffy clouds: FREE BOOKS! Below, in smaller letters, is written: COMMUNITY BOOK EXCHANGE. LOGAN SQUARE BRANCH.

This sounds rockin' cool -- and gives me a good place to ditch some books. (I can't bear to throw them out, but I have decided I can't keep EVERYthing and my shelves are full again!) Definitely gonna be checking that out soon.

Read all about it.

Don't forget to vote!

Now's the time to vote for the 2006 Quill Awards. The website says "The Quill Awards pair a populist sensibility with Hollywood-style glitz and have become the first literary prizes to reflect the tastes of the group that matters most in publishing-readers."

Whatever.

Actually, I quite like the idea of the Awards -- a Rebecca Caudill Award for grown-ups. Maybe it just needs time to catch on. I did watch the ceremony last year and thought it was kinda lame. The focus seemed to be more on the commentators and celebrity authors instead of the "real" authors. (Don't they realize that those of us who would tune in to an awards show for BOOKS in the first place would rather see authors than anyone else?")

Well, however it all plays out this year, I did vote and encourage everyone out there who loves books to vote as well. Maybe the Quills just needs to have some time to become what it can be. I mean, it's only been one year. I guess some slack should be cut.

Right?

Anyway, go vote.

One Book, One Chicago

The Chicago Public Library has announced the latest book in the One Book, One Chicago series: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This is one of the few One Book selections I actually read before it was chosen, but I started rereading it this morning. Absolutely lovely! I recommend that, whether you're in Chicago or not, you go to your local library and check out this collection of short stories.

Naguib Mahfouz has died

From Yahoo!: Naguib Mahfouz, who became the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novels depicting modern Egyptian life in his beloved, millennium-old corner of Islamic Cairo, died Wednesday, his doctor said. He was 94.

Read the rest of the story.

Deep Breathing: Why should obscene phone callers have all the fun?

Okay, so we got our acts together, thought of a team name, and registered for the October 1st "Blow the Whistle on Asthma" Walk. (Well, *I* registered anyway. Anita and Erin were right there when I did and said they were gonna sign up, too... Hmm...) This is a cause that means a lot to me. As some of you know, Science Boy lives with asthma and we've had a few sleepless nights -- him struggling to breathe, me lying awake in terror that he's not gonna make that next breath. His asthma is under control 99.9% of the time, but that 0.1% is scary.

PLEASE take a look at our team page and pledge a few bucks. We're trying to raise $500 as a team, so anything you can do will help and be appreciated. (It's worth a click just to see what dorky name we finally decided on!)

Peace and love to all,
Katharine

No Cookies in the Library!

Classic Sesame Street.

Nicole Kidman is Mrs. Coulter

According to Yahoo!, Nicole Kidman is set to play Mrs. Coulter in the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's book, The Golden Compass. Read the whole story here. I think she'll do pretty well.